World: THE WRITER AS RUSSIA'S CONSCIENCE

For a country to have a great writer is like having another government. That's why no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones. —Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The First Circle

The masters of the Kremlin have long been troubled by the challenge of great writers. When Tolstoy spoke out against famine or religious persecution in 19th century Russia, his voice so carried around the world that the czars took heed. In the early years of Communist rule, Maxim Gorky wielded his renown to save and protect people, until he died a mysterious death probably arranged by Stalin. Boris Pasternak constituted...